Vista School for autistic children born out of parents' love

View full sizeDANIEL ZAMPOGNA, The Patriot-NewsMike Jarman with sons Sean, left, and Patrick.

Mike Jarman and his wife of 26 years, Deirdre, consider themselves lucky. When their twin boys, Sean and Patrick, were born in 1994, the hospital had a grant to follow up on NICU babies so the boys’ autism diagnosis came early.

“We had a good inkling by the time they were 18 months, but they weren’t formally diagnosed until they were 3,” Mike Jarman said.

By the time the diagnosis came, the Jarmans had already determined that they wanted to use Applied Behavior Analysis methods for the boys’ therapy and education. The Vista School in Hershey took root out of their efforts.

Finding no program in the area, Dierdre, a former human resources director, recruited helpers from local colleges to assist with therapy recommended by a behavior analyst from Rutgers University. It wasn’t long before other parents in the close-knit autism community heard about the Jarmans’ “home program on steroids.”

“It was the most elaborate thing happening at the time,” said Jarman, who is an attorney at a Harrisburg law firm. “The boys were getting 40 hours instruction each per week, and I would get phone calls from people wondering how we did it, but not everyone had time or money for it.”

At the time, no local school offered a program based exclusively on ABA, which often uses observation and positive reinforcement to teach appropriate behaviors. Jarman said most public schools “believed it was unproven and too expensive.”

He began to formulate his own idea for a school. “I said ‘I’ve got to find a way to give people answers.’ No one I spoke to could pull off what we were doing and I had to find something to make it hopeful.”

The Vista School opened its doors in 2002 to four students and with “no money.” Jarman said he mortgaged his home to make it work.

“We started downtown in Hershey with a one-room schoolhouse. No one paid tuition. The entity took out loans and two board members ponied up mortgages,” he said.

The school is now a fully subsidized program for 72 students and recently completed its first year on its new campus at the former site of Milton Hershey School’s Springboard Academy.

Jarman said he’s committed to seeing the school continue to thrive, even after his sons no longer need it. Patrick will graduate from the school in a few years. Sean, who was able to matriculate into the regular school system, is a junior at Lancaster Country Day School and is already looking at colleges.

“It’s a lifetime appointment and it’s going to be a big part of my life forever,” Jarman said about the school.